Small Victories
by Wyvern
Summary: oneshot NejiNaru fluffy drabble: Y'figure that Neji just like comfy clothes or...is there some other reason he dresses the way he does?


**Small Victories** (aka: The Hobo-shirt.) by Wyv(ern, or –kate, depending.)

**NejixNaru twt fluff, PG13.**

**Warnings: **I don't like to think of these as 'warnings' 'cause frankly, if you can't take a little man-man affection, I don't care. Warnings for…I dunno, slightly gossipy/pervy Sakura and Tenten? Mwaaaah…

**Disclaimer:** Fanfic by me, characters and such all by Kishimoto.

**Intro spittle: **I wrote this one night because I wanted to do a NejiNaru oneshot, and earlier that day I had drawn the sketches that led to this idea. Hopefully y'all will enjoy, despite the lack of smut (which I wish was included too but hey, I was in a fluffier mood than that and I don't trust myself to do these two smutty justice quite yet).

Thank you for reading! For my art and such, pls. visit my devart page: http // wyvkate . deviantart . com

"Yeah, you'd think so, wouldn't you?"  
"Well I mean…c'mon, he's a member of such a distinguished family!"

"Yup, yup, I know, I must admit that if I was Hiashi-sama, I'd probably say at least something."

"It…it just seems like such a waste."

"Oi, you're telling me?" Tenten sighed and sat back, resting all of her weight onto her right hand. "I'm on the same team as him, I have to watch that go to waste _every day_."

Sakura pouted, exaggerating the gesture to where her top lip almost disappeared. "At least…well at least you get to look every day, even if it _is_ a little pointless."

Tenten shrugged silently, her mouth momentarily busy with her popsicle. Pulling it out of her mouth slowly, she replied, "Yeah, at least I can still look at his face. If it weren't for that though, you'd never know!"

It was a lazy evening in late spring, when the days were finally long enough that lounging on the grass after supper wasn't cut short by nippy air. Before the summer humidity settled in, and the smell of still budding blossoms on the tree shading the two girls was still pungent in the air, these few nights were usually murmuring with the voices of Konoha villages' people, all taking advantage of the lovely weather while they could.

Both of the girls were currently situated on one of the grassy islands between the stony roads, a long, narrow haven in one of the slower markets that lend itself to picnics and moments of repose. Sakura was lying on her stomach with her free hand propping up her chin, the other holding onto a purple popsicle. Tenten took a bite out of her orange one and noisily sucked it into her mouth, almost punctuating the lazy irritation that the two girls seemed to be sharing.

Not thirty feet away from them sat the topic of their conversation, quietly sharing some dinner with his cousin. Occasionally Hinata would offer some shy word or two between sips of her soup, and he would congenially offer a reply, and then they would both sit in the kind of silence that only family members or very old friends could make familiar rather than awkward.

Sakura huffed and shook her head. "Man, really, you'd think he got his clothes from the Akimichi's."

Tenten laughed a little and made a sound of agreement. Shifting her position she came up beside Sakura and lied next to her in an identical position, their arms rubbing up against each other. In the direction of her friend's cheek she smirked, "I've seen him get changed though." Her smirk widened as Sakura turned hungry eyes sharply towards her.

"You've seen him sans the tent!"

With a smug nod, Tenten continued, "A couple of times. Once it was on a mission, before bed, and another time it was a bit by accident, I walked in on him in one of the locker rooms when I was coming to get him before a match."

Sakura dropped her mouth open extra wide, her gaze flicking back towards the two seated Hyuugas. She dried to picture it…Neji, not wearing something that looked at least two sizes too big. "What all did you see!"

"Bah, not as much as I would have liked." Having finished her popsicle, Tenten stuck the stick between her teeth and started chewing on it, her chin plopping down into both of her hands. "So far the best view I've scored was that time in the locker room, when he was a in towel."

"...oooh maaaan…"

"He was just taking it off, too, but the bastard was turned away from the door. wasn't quiet enough either, dammit. He heard me come in, but he didn't turn around, he just closed the towel and looked over his shoulder at who it was. All I could do was say sorry and walk out, he didn't say a damn thing."

Sakura laughed and pushed again Tenten's arm with hers. "Ah that's too bad, seriously, but you've seen his front, right?" She laughed again at Tenten's enthusiastic nod. "Well?"

With a roll of her eyes Tenten pursed her lips and let out a long breath through her nostrils. "He's…doing a severe injustice to all of us with those baggy clothes of his, let me put it that way. Damn, the tummy on him!"

Sakura groaned slightly and turned back towards the table. Hinata and Neji looked like they were finishing up, and he pushed his chair away from the table. The waiter came out and loaded their dishes onto his tray, and Neji started to fish around in his pants pockets for his money while Hinata busied herself with…her napkin, of all things.

Watching him pay for the bill was just as good an example of what the girls had been griping about as anything. Today had obviously been a day where Neji did not feel the need to 'dress up'. Usually he was seen in his plain yukata with the layered dark 'skirt' over top of it, but today he had apparently decided not to bother with it. Instead all he wore were the loose slacks that were entirely commonplace, but draping a few inches down over his waistline was a baggy sweater that would probably give Chouji extra room. The neckline was even too wide, showing off that he had thrown the sweater on overtop a white t-shirt – just in case he was still outside when the night turned cooler, one could assume.

He had to shove one of his sleeves up his arm and lift the sweater up away from his pants pocket just to reach his money, and when he placed it on the table the extra fabric just slid right back down, almost enveloping his hand.

"Look at him! He's swimming in that thing!" Sakura scoffed, pointing her now bare and purple-stained popsicle stick at him.

Tenten sighed again, "Yeah, but Neji's always worn baggy clothes. I guess he just likes to be comfortable."

"But it makes it so hard to admire his body!" Sakura almost whined, her eyes following the accused and Hinata as they started to walk down the street.

Both girls sat up as they started to come in their direction, though only Hinata appeared to have seen them. Neji seemed to be entirely occupied with picking at something on his shirt. Hinata smiled softly at them and waved a little, looking genuinely happy to see them on the grass.

"Hi Hinata!" Sakura called, returning the wave a little more energetically. "Hi Neji!"

At that point Neji couldn't really pretend he didn't see them anymore. In all fairness he _had_ been picking away at something on his shirt, but he'd known the girls were there since he'd started his meal. When Tenten called out a hello to them he raised his head in their direction and offered a nod in hello. He wanted to keep walking but Hinata obviously didn't when she shuffled jauntily over to them.

Inwardly he sighed, and inwardly he made a noise of annoyance. Outwardly, he took a few steps in their direction and slid his hands into his pockets, for all purposes looking nonplussed at the detour.

Hinata and Sakura were giggling about something by the time Tenten made it over to him, her hands on her hips and one of her eyebrows raised in that way that meant some little comment was coming. "Changed your hair, huh?"

Blinking slowly before replying, he said simply, "Yes."

She peered around him at the tie at the nape of his neck, and then came back around with the same expression while her eyes traveled down the rest of him. "Hm," was all she said, with a slight quirk of her mouth.

Another inward sigh. "What?" he asked.

Tenten seemed to contemplate whether or not to tell him the truth for a moment or two, but finally she raised both of her hands and with a matter of fact gesture said, "Neji…you dress like a hobo."

This time the blink before the answer wasn't completely planned, he was honestly not quite expecting that. "Pardon?"

"You heard me." She reached over and pinched his sweater between two fingers before letting it snap, or rather hang, back down. "What size is this thing? XXXL?"

After all the years they had worked together, Tenten was one of the few people who tended to talk so casually with Neji. He could count the others on one hand, and he would still have two too many. As such, he let some of his irritation show through on his face towards her. "What do you care?"

Sakura and Hinata had apparently stopped because upon that question he heard Sakura try and stifle a laugh, her shoulders lifting slightly as she pressed her lips together. One of his eyebrows flicked upwards in her direction at that, and Hinata too looked confused.

Fixing his white eyes back on his friend, she simply shrugged. "I dunno, I just think you could do better. I mean c'mon, anything would be better than the bag-lady look."

His eyebrow flicked again. "Lady?"

Waving it off Tenten just sighed and muttered something about just trying to help as she walked back over to Sakura, who was now on her feet. "Let's go Sakura, he's a lost cause."

"I wouldn't say lost just _yet_." Sakura immediately looked surprised she had said those words after they had spilled out of her mouth, and rather than try and explain it to the curious Hyuugas she just laughed nervously in a high pitch and waved her hands around ambiguously before scuttling quickly after a chuckling Tenten.

Hinata stood next to her cousin in silence for a few moments more, watching her two friends' hurriedly retreating backs. "…wh..what do you think that was about?" she asked softly.

His expression back to its stony self, Neji replied, "I wouldn't know."

Closing his door to his small apartment, Neji turned the one lock shut and toe-heeled out of his sandals. Letting out an audible sigh this time, he emptied his keys from his pockets onto the small table he had beside his couch, the sound of them clattering against the wood a staccato announcement that he was home.

It had just started to cool down by the time he'd dropped Hinata off at her father's house, and he was pleased that his idea to wear the t-shirt beneath his sweater had been a sound one. 'Small victories…' he mused.

Padding his way into his small kitchen, which was really just a counter and a few cupboards beside his fridge, he pulled his kettle down from a shelf and turned on the tap in his metal sink. Letting the water run, he didn't even need to turn very far to switch on one of two elements on his tiny stove.

With the running water he hadn't picked up the sound of feet coming up behind him, though to his credit, he hadn't been listening for footsteps. When he felt a pair of hands slide under his sweater he tensed for a fraction of a moment, but it was at the same spot on his back that the head behind fell against, and that familiar weight signalled for his muscles to relax.

"Hullo," came the warm voice behind him, the two large hands moving around to his stomach.

Neji just softly smiled his reply, turning his head to look over his shoulder. All he could see was where the wild blond hair started and the tanned forehead stopped, but it was a welcome sight.

His smile widened when he felt his sweater pulled up much higher and the body behind him ducked up inside of it. Naruto's chin propped itself on Neji's shoulder, his arms sliding around to encircle him this time. "How was dinner?"

"It was fine," Neji replied while he simultaneously began to fill his kettle from the tap, pretending as though he didn't appear to have an extra person growing out of his back. Closing the lid of his kettle with a sharp snap, he leaned over and set it on the element, his amusement growing as Naruto simply leaned with him.

Looking back over his shoulder, one corner of his mouth tweaked upwards and he jerked his head slightly. "C'mere."

Naruto was grinning enough for both of them as he ducked down beneath Neji's raised arm, popping back up through the gaping neck-line a few seconds later, his arms never really leaving the other boy's waist. Now face to face, Neji wrapped his own arms around his shoulders, helpfully pushing back some of Naruto's tousled hair away from his eyes.

Naruto lifted his chin and caught Neji's lips with his own, sealing his 'welcome home' with a firm kiss, and then following it with his favourite teasing swipe of his tongue before pulling just enough away. "Anything happen?" he asked with a lick of his lips, his eyes going between Neji's own and the slender neck that was only a few tantalizing inches away.

He had been expecting a 'no', but instead he got, "We ran into Sakura and Tenten."

Looking up with a little bit of surprise, Naruto said, "they're still hanging out together, eh? What did they say?"

He was further surprised when the smile from before returned to tug at Neji's mouth. "They told me I dress like a hobo."

"…what!"

"Apparently they don't agree with this sweater."

"Pppht, girls. They don't know what they're talking about," Naruto replied, emphasizing it with a big wet bite to the side of Neji's neck, eliciting a mild gasp.

"Tenten asked me if it was sized XXXL," Neji continued, his low tone resonating against Naruto's chest.

The blonde's head snapped back with a sharp laugh, his slightly pointed canines making his wide grin sharp. "Are you serious? Three x's?"

Neji merely smiled his response, a light laugh bubbling past his lips when Naruto started walking him backwards until he hit the opposing counter. Naruto's hands unwrapped themselves from his partner's waist and started to make their way under the second shirt against the pale skin.

"Well then! I suppose we mustn't let Tenten be wrong! We'll just have to make this a triple X shirt!"

It was just as Naruto's teeth started to tease their way up Neji's throat again that the kettle started to shriek, the growing steam inside of it having gone unnoticed until it was screaming at the two of them. Neji couldn't help but chuckle with closed eyes as Naruto's hands traveled up his chest and he ignored the urgency on the stove for his own.

To think they wanted him to get rid of this sweater?

Girls really didn't know what they were talking about.


End file.
